[hollyhawkz]

Hi Marilyn,

First off I would like to commend you for your dedication and love to Mr. Stella! I am so glad he found you! We took in a seven year old Cherry Head last August, and even though hi previous "Mom" loved him, she way not so bird savvy. There are certain things in Pepper's past that makes me want to use other words as well, however, on a whole, she is a good person, so what do you do? Pepper was terribly underweight and had a vitamin A deficiency (very common among parrots). He gained 11 grams and changed color in 6 months and has no more deficiency.

We use sprouts (soak seeds) as well for super nutrients.

The only suggestions I have are:
toys that drive them crazy busy like foraging and shredding toys,
and bells are must haves,
a ridiculously big cage,
those little vests you can buy for birds just for feather pluckers,
and cartoons or nature shows on a TV they can fully see during the day.

I have heard, albeit controversial, that it is good for feather pluckers to have a mixed diet of a good fortified seed blend along with the pellets, fresh foods and soak seeds. The reasoning being that birds naturally forage and shell seed with their beaks in the wild. When that instinctual part of foraging is taken away it can cause boredom.